The selected entrepreneurs will receive four months of on-line mentoring and assignments, culminating in their attendance at a two-week in-residence program at Santa Clara University in August to focus on venture planning, beneficiary analysis, business models, metrics and successful scaling strategies.

All applicants who fulfill the Social Edge application process requirements receive constructive feedback from Silicon Valley mentors on their business plans.

The GSBI will continue last year’s emphasis on social entrepreneurs who are using technology and sustainable, scalable business models to provide electricity to the under-served in developing countries. You may want to join the conversation, hosted by the GSBI’s Eric D. Carson, on what has been learned from GSBI alumni working on clean energy.

In previous years, GSBI scholars have come from all over the world: India, Namibia, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Argentina, Cambodia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Canada, Indonesia and many other countries.

GSBI scholarships cover tuition, room and board for the two-week intensive immersion program. Selected candidates are responsible for their own travel expenses.

Apply today –there is no application fee! But don’t forget to follow Untangled’s sound advice: “However you go about it, make it a resolution this year to protect your data and back it up.” Including your GSBI application!

Also follow social entrepreneur coach Julie Manga’s advice on the Mindfulness of Experience: “You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

And as you refine your GSBI application, reflect on what Jonathan Lewis means when he compares Muhammad Yunus with Vikram Akula: “One man believes in the goodness of mankind. The other in the goodness of market forces. One man calls us to rise above our baser instincts. The other channels our greed into economic opportunity for the downtrodden. But both voices command people of wealth to use capital wisely and compassionately.”